FORMING THE VERB PHRASE
Now, we will concentrate on verbs and how they are formed and used. The
verb is the most important part of the English sentence. Verbs tell us what time
the action of the sentence took place or when the condition described in the
sentence occurred. It is the verb, and not the subject, that actually tells us who or
what is doing the action of the sentence and who is receiving that action. The
verb connects the subject before it with the object, complement, or whatever
comes after it. Although we are always striving for correct grammar, it is
possible to write a sentence with grammatical errors that is still comprehensible.
However, if there is an error with the form or usage of the verb, the sentence will
probably be very confusing.
We will look at how we use verbs to tell the time of a sentence. In this
chapter, we will look at how we make a correct verb phrase that will clearly
convey the meaning we want it to.
You already know quite a bit about verbs. In this chapter you will be required to use the knowledge you already have about verbs, but this chapter
presents verb forms as a system governed by very strict rules. You may already
know everything that is in this chapter, but you may never have realized how
systematic and straightforward the verb form system of English really is.
1
THE SIX BASIC VERB FORMS
Exercise 1
Complete the following sentences using the verb walk.
1. Agnes _______________ to school every day.
2. Agnes and Agatha _______________ to school every day.
3. They _______________ to school yesterday.
4. They are _______________ to school right now.
5. They have _______________ to school together for three years.
6. They will _______________ to school together until they graduate.
Exercise 2
Complete the following sentences using the verb drive.
1. Agnes _______________ to work every day.
2. Agnes and Agatha _______________ to work every day.
3. They _______________ to work yesterday.
4. They are _______________ to work right now.
5. They have _______________ to work together for three years.
6. They will _______________ to work together until they retire.
2
Exercise 3
Complete the following sentences using the verb cut.
1. Agnes _______________ paper every day.
2. Agnes and Agatha _______________ paper every day.
3. They _______________ paper yesterday.
4. They are _______________ paper right now.
5. They have _______________ paper together for three years.
6. They will _______________ paper together until they die.
Exercise 4
Complete the following sentences using the verb be.
1. I _______________ foolish every day.
Agnes and Agatha _______________ foolish every day.
2. Agnes _______________ foolish every day.
3. I _______________ foolish yesterday.
They _______________ foolish yesterday.
4. They are _______________ foolish right now.
5. They have _______________ foolish together for three years.
6. They will _______________ foolish together until they die.
3
Naming the Verb Forms
In English, there are no grammatical terms that are agreed upon by all people
who study and learn grammar. Some terms, of course, are commonly accepted
and frequently used, but they may be confusing or out-dated. We are going to
introduce you to some names that we will be using for the six verb forms that
should help you to remember what they look like and how they are used. It is
important to remember, however, that other grammar books may use different
names for the same verb forms. Keep this in mind during the following
discussion.
You probably did not have too much trouble with Exercises 1, 2, 3 and 4. The
sentences in each exercise illustrate the six basic verb forms that every English
verb has. (The verb be, used in Exercise 4, has eight different forms, but it is a
very special verb. Every other verb has only six forms.) You probably also
noticed that some of the verb forms look alike, but since they are used
differently, they are considered different verb forms.
The six verb forms can be divided into two groups. The first group includes
the forms used in Sentences 1, 2 and 3 in the exercises. In Sentences 1 and 2, the
verbs (walk, walks, drive, drives, cut, cuts, am, are, is) tell us that the sentences are
present time. (We will talk a lot more about verb time in the next chapter.) The
verbs in Sentence 3 in each exercise (walked, drove, cut, was, were) tell us that the
sentences are past time.
Now look at Sentences 4, 5 and 6 in the exercises. The verb forms that you
wrote do not tell what time the sentences are. There is another word, called an
auxiliary verb, which comes before the verb you wrote. This word tells us the
time of the sentence. The verb forms you added to the sentences don’t tell the
time of the sentence. Therefore, we can divide verb forms into two groups:
TIME INCLUDED
TIMELESS
Sentences 1, 2 and 3 use time
included verb forms. Sentences 1
and 2 use the two present forms of
the verb, one with an s and one
without an s. Sentence 3 uses the
past form of the verb. Therefore, we
say that each verb has three time
included forms, two present forms
and one past form.
Sentences 4, 5 and 6 use timeless
verb forms. Sentence 4 uses the form
that ends with -ing. Sentence 5 uses
the form frequently called the past
participle, and Sentence 6 uses a
form that has no ending on it at all.
None of these three forms tells us the
time of the sentence. Therefore, we
say that each verb has three timeless
verb forms.
4
Let’s call the two present forms the -s form and the no -s form. We will study
more about the differences between these two forms in Chapter 7. To keep
things simple, let’s call the past form the past form.
You may have learned to call the form that ends with -ing the present participle. Look at this sentence:
We were shopping for new clothes last weekend.
This sentence uses the present participle, but it is not talking about the
present. It is very clearly talking about a past event. The -ing form NEVER tells
what time a sentence is talking about, so we will call it the -ing form because it
always ends with ing.
You may also have learned to call the form used in Sentence 5 in the exercises
the past participle. Look at this sentence:
I will have graduated by next year.
This sentence uses the past participle, but it is not talking about the past. It is
very clearly talking about the future! This form NEVER tells what time a
sentence is talking about, and many people are confused by the name past
participle. Therefore, in this book we will use the name d-t-n to describe this
verb form. Look in Appendix 1 and see if you can figure out why we call it the
d-t-n form. It is perfectly all right to continue calling this verb form the past
participle, but you must also remember that it NEVER, EVER tells us that a
sentence is talking about the past.
The verb form used in Sentence 6 in the exercises, like the -ing and d-t-n
forms, also does not tell us the time of the sentence. Additionally, it has no
ending of any kind, so we will call this verb form the base form.
Now you know the names of the six verb forms.
TIME INCLUDED
TIMELESS
-s
-ing
no -s
d-t-n
past
base
5
You surely noticed that some of the verb forms look alike. With a regular
verb, such as walk (Exercise 1), the six different forms are written in only four
different ways. Which forms are written alike with a regular verb?
With many irregular verbs, such as drive (Exercise 2), the six different forms
are written in five different ways. Which forms are written alike?
Other irregular verbs, such as cut (Exercise 3), use only three different ways to
write the six forms. Which forms are written alike?
Then there is the verb be (Exercise 4), which has eight ways to write the six
forms! Although some of the verb forms are written identically, they are easy to
distinguish by the way they are used in a verb phrase, as we will see soon.
6
Exercise 5
Fill in the chart with the correct forms of the verbs.
Time Included
-S
NO -S
Timeless
PAST
-ING
D-T-N
BASE
work
happens
teaching
forgive
writes
shut
felt
hang
brought
says
swam
tell
eating
fall
7
8
USING THE TIME INCLUDED VERB FORMS
The time included verb forms are very easy to use. The two present forms (-s
and no -s) make up what we call the simple present tense. In Chapter 5, we will
look more closely at when we use the simple present tense, and in Chapter 7, we
will look at the differences between the two forms. This is basic grammar, and
you are probably already familiar with the simple present tense and the two verb
forms that make it up.
The past form is used for the simple past tense. This is even easier than the
simple present since there is only one form of the verb that makes up the simple
past. Again, this is basic grammar, and you are probably already familiar with
the simple past tense and its one verb form.
Exercise 6
Use the no -s form of an appropriate verb to complete the following sentences.
1. We ____________________ every day.
2. They ____________________ in order to stay healthy.
3. I ____________________ chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
Use the -s form of an appropriate verb to complete the following sentences.
4. He ____________________ for a living.
5. Jack____________________ the guitar quite well.
6. A car ____________________ a lot of gas.
Use the past form of an appropriate verb to complete the following sentences.
7. Yesterday, we ____________________ a lot of money.
8. Last year, Jackie ____________________ a long vacation.
9. This morning, I _________________ and _________________ to school.
9
AUXILIARY VERBS
The word auxiliary means “help,” and auxiliary verbs in English help other
verbs by changing their time reference or by affecting their meaning. There are
two types of auxiliaries. The first group is very similar to regular verbs and
contains only three words. They are do, have and be. These auxiliaries are used to
change a verb’s tense, to make a sentence negative, or to turn it into a question.
The second group includes words like will, can and might. These are called
modals.
Do, Have and Be
As you already know, do, have and be can be main verbs. Frequently,
however, they are used as auxiliaries. When they are used as auxiliaries, they
will always be followed by a main verb. Even when they are auxiliaries, however, do, have and be still have the six basic verb forms that we just studied.
Exercise 7
Find do, have or be in the sentences below. If it is the main verb of the sentence,
write M next to the sentence. If it is an auxiliary verb, write A next to the
sentence.
1. _____ We are tired of listening to you all the time.
2. _____ They are going to Disney World next week.
3. _____ I have seen the future, and it is scary.
4. _____ I have three vicious poodles at home.
5. _____ The students always do their homework on time.
6. _____ She didn’t know the way to San Jose.
Each of the following sentences uses do, have and be more than once. In each
sentence, circle the auxiliary verbs and underline the main verbs.
7. I have had a very tough day.
8. You are being very silly.
9. Don’t do that!
10. I have been doing my homework.
10
The Auxiliary Do
The auxiliary do has two main uses. If a sentence has only a main verb (this
would be one of the simple tenses, as we will see in the next chapter), the
auxiliary do is used to make the sentence negative or turn it into a question.
Look at these examples:
He wants a lot of money right now.
To turn this into a question, we use the auxiliary do before the subject. Notice
also that we use the auxiliary do in the -s form, and the main verb want changes
from the -s form to the base form.
Does he want a lot of money right now?
To turn the original sentence into a negative sentence, we add the auxiliary do
followed by the adverb not. Again, notice that we use the auxiliary in the -s
form, and the main verb changes from the -s form to the base form.
He doesn’t want a lot of money right now.
If the main verb is in the simple past, then we will use the past form of the
auxiliary do, and the main verb will change to the base form.
He wanted a lot of money.
Did he want a lot of money?
He didn’t want a lot of money.
The same thing happens when the main verb is in the no -s form, but since
the base form and the no -s form look alike, it will seem as if the main verb
hasn’t changed its form. Of course, you know that it has.
I want a lot of money right now.
Do I want a lot of money right now?
I don’t want a lot of money right now.
11
You have probably noticed that no matter what we use the auxiliary do for in
the sentence, the main verb is always in the base form. This leads us to an
important rule:
The auxiliary do is always followed by
the base form of the main verb.
Exercise 8
Change each of the following sentences into a question and a negative.
1. She sings in the shower.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. They brought ice cream to the party.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. We drink milk every day.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. Gary does good work.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
In Sentence 4, what is the main verb? What did you use as an auxiliary?
12
The Auxiliary Have
The auxiliary have is used for only one thing, and that is to make a verb tense
perfect. (We will discover what this is in the next chapter.) If a sentence uses the
auxiliary have, then it is not necessary to use the auxiliary do to make a question
or negative. Look at this example:
Janet has seen the Taj Mahal.
Has Janet seen the Taj Mahal?
Janet has not seen the Taj Mahal.
In these sentences, the auxiliary have is in the -s form. Therefore, we do not
have to make any changes in the main verb when we use the auxiliary to make a
question or a negative. What form is the main verb in? ___________. This leads
us to an important rule:
The auxiliary have is always followed by
the d-t-n form of the main verb or by the
d-t-n form of the auxiliary be.
Exercise 9
Change each of the following sentences into a question and a negative.
1. She has brought some flowers.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. They have waited for a long time.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. We had had a bad day.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
In Sentence 3, what is the auxiliary? What is the main verb? How do you know?
13
The Auxiliary Be
The auxiliary be is a little more complicated. Grammatically, it is used to
form the continuous tenses (see Chapter 5) and the passive voice (see Chapter 8).
In a sentence, it acts like the auxiliary have. In other words, when the auxiliary be
is used in a sentence, we use it to make a question or a negative. However, when
be is the main verb of a sentence, we do not use the auxiliary do to make a
question or a negative. Be acts like an auxiliary even when it is the main verb of
a sentence. Look at these examples:
Be as the main verb:
My teachers are sensational.
Are my teachers sensational?
My teachers are not sensational.
Be as an auxiliary:
The president is coming to town.
Is the president coming to town?
The president is not coming to town.
The mail was sent to the wrong house.
Was the mail sent to the wrong house?
The mail was not sent to the wrong house.
In these sentences, the auxiliary be is in an -s form and a past form. Therefore,
we do not have to make any changes in the main verb when we use the auxiliary
to make a question or a negative. In the first three sentences, what form is the
main verb in? ___________. In the second three sentences, what form is the main
verb in? ___________. This leads us to an important rule:
The auxiliary be can be followed
by the d-t-n form or the -ing form
of the main verb.
14
Exercise 10
Change each of the following sentences into a question and a negative.
1. She is laughing loudly.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. They were punished by their parents.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. We were looking at some magazines.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. This book was written by a couple of geniuses.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
5. The children are being very quiet.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
In Sentence 5, what is the auxiliary? What is the main verb? How do you know?
15
Modals
The other type of auxiliary verb is the modal. You are already familiar with
modals. You use them frequently when you talk and write. Modals help verbs
by giving them special meanings. Some modals give an idea of time (past,
present, or future), and some do not. Most modals have more than one meaning.
In Chapter 8, we will review the meanings of the modals. Here we will
concentrate on how they work in a verb phrase.
Here is a list of the common modals that you should be familiar with:
may
can
will
must
might
could
would
should
The modals differ from the do, have and be auxiliaries because they have only
one form (although can and could, and will and would are related to each other
when they express a present or past time idea). Unlike the auxiliaries do, have, be,
the modal auxiliaries do not change to agree with the subject. The main verb
does not change to show past time. For example: Mary can type well. Mary and
Peter can type well. She couldn't type until last year. He couldn't type until last
year either. Nevertheless, the modals act just like the other auxiliaries when they
are used in a sentence. Look at these examples:
Jerome should eat more meat.
Should Jerome eat more meat?
Jerome should not eat more meat.
In these sentences, we do not have to make any changes in the main verb
when we use the modal auxiliary to make a question or a negative. What form is
the main verb in? ___________ This leads us to an important rule:
The modal auxiliaries are always followed
by the base form of the main verb or by the
base form of the auxiliaries have or be.
16
Exercise 11
Change each of the following sentences into a question and a negative.
1. She will go home at midnight.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. He can lift hundreds of pounds.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. We would be able to pick them up.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. It should be over there.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
5. We can can our own tomatoes.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
In Sentence 5, what is the main verb? What is the auxiliary? How do you
know?
17
There is a group of modals, sometimes called the quasi-modals, which are
made up of two words, instead of just one. They are also always followed by a
verb in the base form, but they are a little trickier when it comes to using them to
make questions and negatives. These quasi-modals are:
ought to
would rather
had better
have to
Notice how they are used:
You ought to do your homework.
You ought not to do your homework. (rare)
We would rather go sailing.
We would rather not go sailing.
Would we rather go sailing?
They had better call a lawyer.
They had better not call a lawyer.
Hadn’t they better call a lawyer?
I have to leave…He has to leave…They had to leave.
I don’t have to leave…He doesn’t have to leave…They didn’t have to leave.
Do I have to leave?…Does he have to leave?…Did they have to leave?
Can you discover two ways that have to differs from all the other modals?
What do you notice about the question form of had better? How do the question
forms of would rather and have to differ from the negative forms of those two
quasi-modals?
18
THE STRUCTURE OF THE VERB PHRASE
So far, we have looked at the six basic verb forms and the two types of auxiliary verbs, do, have and be and the modals. We have briefly seen how the six
basic verb forms are used with the auxiliaries to make a verb phrase.
Verb phrases in English follow five very basic rules. These rules are never
broken. In this section, we will look at these five rules one by one. If you study
them carefully and memorize them, you will never write an incorrectly formed
verb phrase!
Verb Phrase Rule #1
A VP can have from one to four verb words.
When we say verb words, we are talking about regular verbs and auxiliary
verbs. It is possible, and very common, to put an adverb, such as not or really, in
the middle of a VP, but in this section, we won’t count adverbs in the middle of a
VP as one of the words of the VP. Therefore, the rule above means that a VP can
have from one to four words that are verbs and auxiliaries.
Exercise 12
Circle the VP in each of the following sentences and write the number of words
in the VP on the line. Do not count adverbs.
1. _____ I desire a new car.
2. _____ Tom has never been to New York.
3. _____ Should we be taking this money?
4. _____ The cat has been sleeping all morning.
5 _____ The rabid dog had been terrifying the neighborhood for weeks.
6. _____ The mayor might not have been telling the truth.
7. _____ We wanted some chocolate ice cream.
8. _____ They have never really acted very friendly toward us.
9. _____ Is he laughing?
10. _____ The truck must have been forcefully hit from behind.
19
Verb Phrase Rule #2
The last word of the VP is always the main verb. All
the other words are auxiliaries.
A VP can have only one main verb. If the VP has only one word, it must
obviously be the main verb. If a VP has more than one word, the words that
come before the main verb must be auxiliaries. The main verb always is the last
word of a VP.
A sentence may have more than one main verb, but if this is the case, there is
actually more than one VP, and they are joined together by a word like and or or,
as in this example.
We studied hard and passed the test.
The sentence above has two one-word VPs joined with the word and. You
will study more about sentences like this, called compound sentences, next
semester.
Exercise 13
Underline the complete verb phrase in each of the following sentences and circle
the main verb.
1. I desire a new car.
2. Tom has never been to New York.
3. Should we be taking this money?
4. The cat has been sleeping all morning.
5. The rabid dog had been terrifying the neighborhood for weeks.
6. The mayor might not have been telling the truth.
7. We wanted some chocolate ice cream.
8. They have never really acted very friendly toward us.
9. Is he laughing?
10. The truck must have been forcefully hit from behind.
20
Verb Phrase Rule #3
The first word of the VP tells past or present time, or
it is a modal.
In the next chapter, we will look more at verb time and verb tense. For right
now, we just need to know that every sentence must include a time, either the
past or present, or it must have a modal, which gives an idea of time, even
though it doesn’t always tell us past or present. The first word of a VP must tell
the time of the sentence. If the VP doesn’t have a time included form of the main
verb or auxiliary, then we must use a modal at the beginning of the VP. In other
words, the first word of a VP must be one of the time included forms (-s, no -s,
past) of a verb or auxiliary, or it must be a modal.
Exercise 14
Underline the complete verb phrase in each of the following sentences and circle
the first word of the VP. On the line, write past if the first word shows past time,
present if it shows present time, or modal if it is a modal.
1. _____ I desire a new car.
2. _____ Tom has never been to New York.
3. _____ Should we be taking this money?
4. _____ The cat has been sleeping all morning.
5. _____ The rabid dog had been terrifying the neighborhood for weeks.
6. _____ The mayor might not have been telling the truth.
7. _____ We wanted some chocolate ice cream.
8. _____ They have never really acted very friendly toward us.
9. _____ Is he laughing?
10. _____ The truck must have been forcefully hit from behind.
21
Verb Phrase Rule #4
A VP can have only one time included verb form.
You know that the first word of a VP tells the time of the sentence, and now
we are learning that a VP can have only one word that signifies the time.
Therefore, all the other words in a VP after the first word must be timeless forms
(-ing, d-t-n, base) of verbs or auxiliaries.
Exercise 15
Underline the complete verb phrase in each of the following sentences. Under
each word, identify its verb form (-s, no -s, past, -ing, d-t-n, base or modal).
1. _____ I desire a new car.
2. _____ Tom has never been to New York.
3. _____ Should we be taking this money?
4. _____ The cat has been sleeping all morning.
5. _____ The rabid dog had been terrifying the neighborhood for weeks.
6. _____ The mayor might not have been telling the truth.
7. _____ We wanted some chocolate ice cream.
8. _____ They have never really acted very friendly toward us.
9. _____ Is he laughing?
10. _____ The truck must have been forcefully hit from behind.
22
Verb Phrase Rule #5
The words in a VP follow a set order.
It is easy to write a one-word verb phrase. You know that it will only contain
a main verb. Even two-word VPs, such as are singing, or have seen, are probably
familiar to you, and you have been using them for awhile. However, we have
seen in this chapter that a VP can have three or four words, and it can get
confusing to know what order to put the words in. Rule #5 says that the words
always go in a certain order, and this is the order:
modal
have
be
main verb
A verb phrase can have only one modal, one auxiliary have, and one main
verb, but the auxiliary be can appear twice in one verb phrase. That is because
we use the auxiliary be in two ways: to make the continuous tenses (is running,
are falling, was typing, etc.) and the passive voice (is closed, are finished, were broken,
etc.). We will look more at the continuous tenses in Chapter 5, and we will study
the passive voice in Chapter 8.
Also notice that the auxiliary do does not appear in the verb phrase order
chart. Remember that the auxiliary do is only used to make questions and
negatives when there are no other auxiliaries in a sentence.
In order to form a correct verb phrase, we need to review what we learned a
little earlier in the chapter about using the -ing, d-t-n and base forms. Remember
these rules:
The -ing verb form is only used after the auxiliary be.
The d-t-n verb form is used after the auxiliaries have and be.
The base form is only used after a modal auxiliary.
23
Keeping this in mind, and also remembering the five rules we have just
learned about verb phrases, let’s look at a few sample verb phrases and analyze
them.
Horatio laughs.
This VP has only one word. Since it is the first word in the VP, it must be a
time included verb form, in this case, the present -s form. Since it is also the last
word of the VP, it must also be the main verb.
The babies are crying.
This VP has two words. The first word must tell the time of the sentence. It is
one of the present forms (no -s) of the auxiliary be. The last word is the main
verb. It must be a timeless verb form. Indeed, it is the -ing form, making a
present continuous verb.
The students have been warned by the teacher.
This VP has three words. The first word is the time included no -s form of the
auxiliary have. It is followed by the auxiliary be in the d-t-n form. The auxiliary
have must always be followed by the d-t-n. The auxiliary be is followed by the
main verb warn in the d-t-n form. The auxiliary be can be followed by either the ing or the d-t-n forms. This VP is a present perfect verb in the passive voice.
I might have been singing.
This VP has four words. It starts with a modal, so this VP does not need a
time included verb form. The modal is followed by the auxiliary have in the base
form. Modals must be followed by the base form. The auxiliary have is
followed by the auxiliary be in the d-t-n form. The auxiliary be is followed by the
main verb in the -ing form. This VP is a modal perfect continuous verb.
24
Do you see how every word in a VP controls the form of the word that comes
after it? The chart below contains examples of all the possible VP combinations
in English.
One-Word Verb Phrases
Pattern
Example
verb (-s, no -s, past)
He goes. We see. I left.
Two-Word Verb Phrases
Pattern
Example
modal + verb (base)
I will stay.
have (-s, no -s, past) + verb (d-t-n)
We had gone.
be (-s, no -s, past) + verb (-ing)
They are leaving.
be (-s, no -s, past) + verb (d-t-n)
It is finished.
Three-Word Verb Phrases
Pattern
Example
modal + have (base) + verb (d-t-n)
I could have danced.
modal + be (base) + verb (-ing)
She should be arriving.
modal + be (base) + verb (d-t-n)
He must be stopped.
have (-s, no -s, past) + be (d-t-n) + verb (-ing)
It has been raining.
have (-s, no -s, past) + be (d-t-n) + verb (d-t-n)
We have been encouraged.
be (-s, no -s, past) + be (-ing) + verb (d-t-n)
It is being discussed.
25
Four-Word Verb Phrases
Pattern
Example
modal + have (base) + be (d-t-n) + verb (-ing)
I could have been lying.
modal + have (base) + be (d-t-n) + verb (d-t-n)
We may have been tricked.
modal + be (base) + be (-ing) + verb (d-t-n)
It may be being discussed.
Can a VP have five verb words? What would it look like? It would have to
start with a modal. The modal would have to be followed by auxiliary have in
the base form. That would be followed by auxiliary be in the d-t-n form, which
would be followed by another auxiliary be in the -ing form. Finally, we would
find a main verb in the d-t-n form. This is what it might look like:
Arnold might have been being kissed by his girlfriend.
Although this verb phrase is technically correct, it isn't really used in English.
This verb phrase means that it was possible in the past that Arnold’s girlfriend
was kissing him over a period of time. For all practical purposes, verb phrases
with five verb words are so rare and so confusing that you will probably never
read or hear one outside of this English class, so we can safely ignore them. Of
course, even this five-word monster follows all the rules of the English VP.
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Exercise 16
The verb phases in the following sentences are incorrect. Rewrite the sentences
with a correct verb phrase. There might be more than one way to rewrite each
sentence.
1. We enjoying the party.
_______________________________________________________________
2. They have eating all the birthday cake.
_______________________________________________________________
3. Julie may going home early.
_______________________________________________________________
4. Everybody has been dance all night long.
_______________________________________________________________
5. Joe and I were drink a lot of Coke.
_______________________________________________________________
6. The host should buying more beer.
_______________________________________________________________
7. I might had an appointment tomorrow.
_______________________________________________________________
8. This has being the best party that I have ever going to.
_______________________________________________________________
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Exercise 17
Complete the following paragraph by putting in either the -ing, d-t-n or base
form of the verb below the space.
For thousands of years, people have _______________ the great
(study)
variety of languages that human beings speak. Every year, they are
_______________ more and more about language. There are some
(learn)
interesting facts about some languages. You may______________ them
(know)
already. Some languages do not _______________ vowels that you
(have)
_______________ as separate letters. For example, Hebrew has vowels,
(write)
but you can _______________ the language without them. If you are
(read)
used to seeing the language, you will _______________ able to read it
(be)
without the vowels. Chinese has no alphabet. Over the years, writers
have __________ a beautiful system of pictures to write Chinese.
(develop)
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Exercise 18
Complete the following paragraph by putting in either the -ing, d-t-n or base
form of the verb below the space.
I don’t _______________ some teachers. They are constantly
(understand)
_______________ their students to finish their homework on time,
(tell)
yet they will rarely _______________ papers on time. Have you ever
(return)
_______________ a teacher who doesn’t _______________ you what is on
(have)
(inform)
a test before you take it? At this very moment, I am _______________ a
(take)
test that is a complete mystery to me. I think the entire class should
_______________ _______________ _______________ for the content of
(have)
(be)
(prepare)
this test. Don’t you?
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Exercise 19
On each line below, write a grammatically correct sentence that includes a verb
phrase that follows the directions given. Only the auxiliaries and main verb have
been provided for you. You will have to supply the subject and any objects,
adverbs and descriptive phrases that you want.
1. modal + enjoy
_______________________________________________________________
2. am + think (-ing)
_______________________________________________________________
3. have + study (d-t-n)
_______________________________________________________________
4. is + break (d-t-n)
_______________________________________________________________
5. modal + be + start (-ing)
_______________________________________________________________
6. modal + be + write (-d-t-n)
_______________________________________________________________
7. modal + have + begin (d-t-n)
_______________________________________________________________
8. have + be + complete (d-t-n)
_______________________________________________________________
9. has + be + eat (-ing)
_______________________________________________________________
10. had + be + throw (d-t-n)
_______________________________________________________________
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REVIEW POINTS
VERB
FORMS
TIME INCLUDED
-s
no -s
past
TIMELESS
-ing
d-t-n
base
The auxiliary do is always followed by the base form of the
main verb.
AUXILIARIES
The auxiliary have is always followed by the d-t-n form of
the main verb or by the d-t-n form of the auxiliary be.
The auxiliary be can be followed by the d-t-n form or the ing form of the main verb.
The modal auxiliaries are always followed by the base
form of the main verb or by the base form of the
auxiliaries have or be.
A VP can have from one to four verb words.
VERB
PHRASE
RULES
The last word of the VP is always the main verb. All the
other words are auxiliaries.
The first word of the VP tells past or present time, or it is
a modal.
A VP can have only one time included verb form.
The words in a VP follow a set order.
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